网上谈及“卖萌”翻译的文章多将其译为play cute或act cute，笔者认为都没有问题。唯一需要注意的是act cute比play cute更常用。在谷歌搜索girls playing cute和girls acting cute的结果可以反映出这一现象。
此外，笔者查到虽然也有境外网站用playing cute表示卖萌，如：The brand said its message came from the "Mai Meng" team, a pun that integrated Mizone's Chinese name with a current slang term that is hot online and means "playing cute."
但找到的权威媒体文章几乎都是用act cute，比如New York Post一篇介绍中国网络女主播的文章《No sex, just lucrative flirting for China’s online ‘hostesses’》中有这样一句话：
The hostesses are predominantly singers, playing to an audience that is 90 percent male, and mostly between the ages of 20 and 35. Acting cute is okay. Anything explicitly sexual is not.
因此，act cute可作为“卖萌”的首选译法（不需要强调“卖”的时候仅用cute即可，比如：“一张小狗卖萌的照片”可译为A photo of a cute dog）。需要多说一句的是act cute可以指假卖萌，不是真可爱（act: to appear or seem to be），这时最好译成“装萌”。
虽然在“卖萌”方面略显乏力，play cute还有另外一个意思。先看cute一个不太常见的用法：Cleverly or witty, especially in an impertinent or evasive way, as in falsely suggesting that one is ignorant about the matter at hand。
这时的cute有知情或精明的人装傻充愣，装天真、装单纯的意思，类似play dumb，但比后者更具讽刺意味。结合cute的主要意思为“可爱”，这时的cute可理解为将“萌”负面化、极端化，到了（刻意）“呆萌”、“蠢萌”的地步。翻译时可不拘泥于“萌”字，根据语境自由发挥。下面介绍几个play cute这种用法的例子。需要注意的是，cute这种用法并不太普遍，翻译时可酌情使用。
1.
Bottom line: Regardless of how Spicer and the Trump administration want to spin the numbers, or play cute with language, all available evidence — and common sense — suggest Trump’s inauguration fell far short of being an historical juggernaut.
原文指出，美国新任总统特朗普就职典礼并不像特朗普政府和白宫发言人斯派塞说的那样在历史上留下了浓重一笔。其中的play cute with language指两者在语言上耍小聪明，对实际情况装不知道，闭口不谈。这里如果译为“在语言上卖萌”好像就不太好理解了。
2.
Disturbingly, the White House was mostly silent on the matter. A spokesman said President Obama was “aware” of Iran’s movements, but nothing else.
The State Department tried playing dumb: “I don’t know that we have any understanding at this point of what those ships are doing there or where they’re going,” said a press spokesman.
Then it tried talking the threat down:“It’s a non-issue,” said another.
Then it tried playing cute: “You’ll have to ask the Iranian government.”
文章背景为两艘伊朗军舰经苏伊士运河驶入地中海，文章作者认为白宫不应对此视而不见。这里的playing cute可译为“装无辜”、“装天真”。从play dumb到play cute的递进体现出作者的不满逐渐加深。
3.
“I was saying to someone yesterday that when they open the book on Division 1A next year, we’ll still be favourites to go down. It might be time to play the cute card and get out. Say I have health issues or something.”
说话人 DerekMcGrath为沃特福德爱尔兰式曲棍球队主教练，以说话坦诚闻名（同一篇文章有这样一句打趣的话：McGrath has been infected with the terrible disease of honesty.）沃特福特队在联赛表现不佳，McGrath毫无顾忌地说明年他们仍将是降级大热门，并开玩笑说自己现在该想个巧法子走人了，比如健康问题什么的。
爱尔兰式曲棍球（hurling）
4.
As for those historians or sticklers who might be unwilling to accept a movie that leaves out chunks of Davis' life, Cheadle said, "I didn't want to attempt to be playing cute with the story and say, 'This is a true story.' I wanted it to be creative. I wanted it to be interesting. I wanted it to be different.” (In this sense Cheadle is part of a larger class of biopics that take a more impressionistic view of the genre.)
最后一个例子既不能译为“卖萌”，也和上面几个例子有差异。Cheadle是一部关于美国爵士音乐家Miles Davis的纪录片导演。他的拍摄理念和手法与传统纪录片有很大同，所以这段话开头就说一些历史研究者和固守成规的人可能不会接受这部没有提及Davis人生中大段时光的影片。结合后文的creative和interesting，文中cute的贬义没有前面几个例子强，不是“装傻”，而是“合规”和“乖巧”。这里的play cute如果译作“卖萌”也不妥当。
Play cute何时是真萌，何时是装糊涂、想歪招还要看上下文。
（中国翻译研究院）
